In the wake of the 2015 earthquakes, Dr. Jeremy Spoon traveled to Nepal to study the ways natural disasters reshape social-ecological systems. What he and his team learned could improve the future of disaster preparedness, relief, and recovery efforts.

Dr. Baihetiyaer Tuerxun is retired professor from Xinjiang University, China who know resides in Portland, Oregon. He holds a courtesy appointment with Department of History at Portland State University. His research interests include the history of Central Asia and Ethnology, particularly of Xinjiang, China.

To make her dream of studying abroad come true, Jasmin searched and applied for scholarships with perseverance and faith. After having a great experience in Spain, she believes that study abroad is an attainable option for all students regardless of their socioeconomic status.

Xia Zhang is a cultural anthropologist and Chinese folklorist. She does research on globalization, urbanization, gender (esp. masculinity), development, new media, youth, migration, labor politics in China and East Asia.

Instructor. Austin Davidsen is the Global Account Executive for two Taiwan-based footwear material suppliers, Pony Leather, and Tai Ruey Fong. He works with an international team to design, market, and present world-class materials to decision makers across the footwear industry. His role is to manage the suppliers' relationships with the brand to make sure they deliver materials that are aesthetically pleasing and cost-competitive. Austin stumbled into the footwear industry after launching his career as a teacher in elementary classrooms in the US and in South Korea. He holds a master's degree in International Management from PSU..

Alum Simon Peters is a 2014 graduate of the Honors Program with a B.A. in Chinese and Applied Linguistics, where his focus was on endangered language documentation and maintenance. Simon recently received a second Critical Language Scholarship from the State Department for a return to China. He began working on his Ph.D. at UC Santa Barbara in Fall of 2015.

The Middle East Studies Center regularly refers affiliated faculty, students, and community members to provide their expertise as guest speakers at local organizations and school classrooms, as sources for media reporting, or as general consultants for Middle East-related issues.

The Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys is a collection of books, films, and other resources chosen with a view to familiarizing the American public with Islam and the cultural heritage of Islamic civilizations around the world.

Middle East Teaching Tools offers a collection of the best tools and resources to support education about the Middle East at the K-12 level. Materials are organized by country and theme and categorized into three sections, background information, news & media, and teaching materials.

The Middle East Studies Center’s film series showcases the rich tradition of cinema in the Middle East provides opportunities for audiences to view the region in new ways and to engage with potentially transformative ideas about the Middle East.

The Middle East Studies Center has an extensive lending library of curricular materials, teaching resources, books for K-12 students, maps, posters, current and back issues of Saudi Aramco World, and DVDs on many aspects of the Middle East.